Samuel Richardson

1. The Evolution of
Women’s Rights:
Contrasting Pamela
and Present Day

2. Prepared by Dhatri Parmar
Roll Number : 11
Enrollment Number : 5108230032
Semester : 1
Batch : 2023-2025
Paper no 102
Paper code: 22393
Paper Name : Literature Of the Neoclassical
Submitted to : S. B. Gardi Department of English. Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji
Bhavnagar University
Date : 31 October 2023
Email ID: dhatriparmar291@gmail.com

3. TABLE OF CONTENTS
● Introduction
● Pamela and 18th-Century Female Servitude
● Pamela's Revolutionary Journey
● Women's Rights Evolution
● Empowering Women in Politics for Equal Rights
● Women's Workforce Changes: U.S. and India
Challenges
● Conclusion

4. Introduction
● Pamela Andrews in "Pamela, or Virtue
Rewarded" symbolizes the 18th-century woman,
marked by strong morality, submission to men,
a domestic focus, resilience, and her transition
from a servant to a respected lady, exemplifying
the era's ideals.
● In the 18th century, women had limited rights
and opportunities. Today, they enjoy greater
equality in legal, educational, and career aspects.

5. Pamela and 18th-Century Female Servitude
● Pamela embodies 18th-century female servant character.
● Resilience and virtue reflect real-life servitude
challenges.
"Virtue is the truest nobility."(Richardson #)
● Marriage after advances questions female servitude’s
reward.
● Unyielding against Mr. B's advances; displays strength.
"I began to tremble at being left alone with a man of such loose
principles."(Richardson #)

6. Pamela's Revolutionary Journey
● Pamela's marriage to Mr. B defies class
norms, prioritizing love over social status,
illustrating societal rebellion.
"O, Mr. B., there is a great deal in a young woman's
being lifted all at once to the highest station! (Richardson #)
● Pamela uses letters to share her struggles, gain
support, and assert her rights against Mr. B. (Mishra)

8. Women's Rights Evolution :
● Legal gains: voting, anti-discrimination, reducing workplace
inequalities.
● Economic empowerment: active workforce, women-owned
businesses.
● Education and careers open to women.
● Pamela's being a woman and from a lower social class create
extra difficulties and unequal power dynamics, just like
intersectional feminism describes. “a prism for seeing the way in
which various forms of inequality often operate together and exacerbate each
other,”(“Intersectional feminism: what it means and why it matters right now”)

9. Empowering Women in Politics for Equal
Rights
● This new bill wants to make sure more women get the chance to be in
politics in India. They are doing this by setting aside seats for women in
the Lok Sabha and state Legislative Assemblies. The rule applies to some
seats for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes too. In Delhi, they also
have this rule now. The seats will be decided after a new census, and it
will last for 15 years, or longer if Parliament decides.
● Increased gender equality, inclusive policies, and greater female
participation in politics for better representation of diverse perspectives
and needs. (“Women's Reservation Bill 2023”)

10. Women's Workforce Changes: U.S. and
India Challenges
● Claudia's research shows that in the past, many
women in the U.S. used to work. But then, the
number of working women went down.
● It started going up again during the Great
Depression and World War II. Now, almost half
of the workers in the U.S. are women.
● But, there are still problems like unfair
treatment and jobs that demand too much time.
● In India, it's even harder for women to work
due to family responsibilities and safety
concerns. We need to make things better for
women at work.(Duflo and Banerjee)

11. Conclusion :
● Women's rights have come a long way since Pamela's time in the 18th
century. This shows that society and the laws have changed due to
years of people fighting for women's rights.We must continue working
for full gender equality.
● Comparing Pamela's time with today reminds us how much we've
improved, but also how much more we need to do to make things
completely fair for everyone.

12. References
Duflo, Esther, and Abhijit Banerjee. “Her Goldin Words.” The Times of India, 11 October 2023,
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/toi-edit-page/her-goldin-words-2019s-economics-nobel-laureates-write-on-this-years-
winner-claudia-goldin-whose-work-is-directly-relevant-to-understanding-why-so-few-women-in-india-are-in-paid-w/. Accessed 30
October 2023.
“Intersectional feminism: what it means and why it matters right now.” UN Women, 1 July 2020,
https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2020/6/explainer-intersectional-feminism-what-it-means-and-why-it-matters. Accessed 30
October 2023.
Mishra, Dr.Sweta. “Attitude Towards Women In The Eighteenth Century Society And Portrayal of Pamela in Richardson's Novel.” IJ
Publication, 9 March 2019, http://www.jetir.org/view?paper=JETIR1805703. Accessed 30 October 2023.
Richardson, Samuel. Pamela, or, Virtue rewarded. Edited by Peter Sabor, Penguin Publishing Group, 1980.
“Women's Reservation Bill 2023.” Drishti IAS, 23 September 2023, https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/women-s-
reservation-bill-2023. Accessed 30 October 2023.